F 
o 

M38M3 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

4- 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


of  U/ater  for 
Irri^atiop. 


SOME  PAGIPS  ABOUT 

/T)axu;ell  (Jrapt 
ii>  ffeu/  /T^exieo. 


W.  E.  PEDRICK, 

AGENT  MAXWELL  LAND  GRANT  CO. 


1700  LAWRENCE   ST.  DENVER,  COLO. 


In  riding  from  the  Rockies  east- 
erly over  the  plains,  what  does  the 
landscape  present?  Out  of  Den- 
ver, for  instance,  and  in  the  month 
of  June;  passing  the  suburbs  and 
beyond  the  canals,  on  every  side 
stretches  the  plain  of  gramma  and 
cactus,  but  well  dotted  with  cattle. 
Fifty  miles  distant  one  reaches  the 
divide  where  the  waters  head  and 
flow  in  opposite  directions.  On 
to  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  line 
the  cactus  becomes  scarce,  and 
thin  buffalo  grass  of  a  pale 
green  color  takes  the  place  of  the 
brown  twisted  nutritive  gramma. 
We  are  descending  grade,  and 


water  is  nearer  the  surface.  Sick- 
ly looking  corn  without  irrigation 
here  and  there  appears,  to  be  killed 
by  the  burning  sun,  before  it  is 
two  feet  high.  On  into  central 
Nebraska,  where  the  rainfall  is 
sufficient,  and  the  corn  is  rich  and 
luxuriant;  where  it  grows  so  fast, 
the  planter  says:  "You  can  hear  it 
snap  in  the  night."  The  grass  is 
higher  and  more  rank — but  not 
nutritious.  Now  the  corn  becomes 
strong  and  justifies  the  planter. 
But  he  is  nervous.  There  is  an  if 
ta  his  soliloquy.  If  there  should 
be  a  drouth,  as  in  the  southern 
counties  of  Nebraska  and  Kansas 
in  1887  and  1888,  what  will  he  do? 
Further  on  towards  the  Missouri 


bottoms,  if  the  floods  do  not  cease, 
if  the  Big  Muddy  does  not  cease  to 
overflow,  his  corn  will  be  flooded, 
ruined.  And  thus  from  year  to 
year  he  is  beseeching  divine  provi- 
dence for  either  more  rain  or  for  a 
cessation  of  rain. 

In  New  Mexico  these  questions 
are  unknown.  Water  is  to  the 
farm  what  South  Carolina  phos-  ^ 
phate,  nowground  jn  LibbyPrisony 
is  to  the  cotlorTplanter,  only  thai 
the  former  never  fails,  while  the 
latter  often  does.  The  planter  ex- 
pends $2.50  in  phosphate  to  every 
acre  of  northern  Alabama  and 
Mississippi  cotton  lands  that  he 
expects  a  crop  from ;  and,  in  dry 


6 

seasons,  is  often  awarded  less  than 
a  quarter  of  a  bale  to  the  acre. 

On  the  MAXWELL  GRANT  lands, 
50  cents  an  acre,  the  cost  of  labor 
in  irrigating,  is  the  Guaranty  In- 
surance Company  that  warrants  a 
full  crop  without  fail.  For  thou- 
sands of  years  much  of  this  unde- 
veloped soil  has  lain  dormant, 
with  not  a  fibre  of  vegetable  mat- 
ter save  gramma  grass  penetrating 
it,  to  awake  at  last  like  a  resur- 
rection at  contact  with  water  and 
yield  all  of  earth's  wonderful  har- 
vests commensurate  with  its  lati- 
tude. 

IRRIGATION. 

As  the  province  of  this  circular 
is  among  those  more  or  less  ac- 


quainted  with  the  location  and 
value  of  lands  under  canals  in  the 
west,  and  whose  experience  the 
past  year  teaches  the  lessons  of 
insufficient  water  when  it  is  sorely 
needed,  a  glance  at  the  maps  of 
the  late  Prof.  Hayden's  U.  S.  sur- 
vey of  this  portion  of  Colorado 
and  New  Mexico,  will  show  the 
many  natural  streams  and  their 
abundant  supply  of  water  in  their 
southeasterly  course.  From  these 
streams  the  high  line  canals  of  the 
MAXWELL  .GRANT  COMPANY  are 
short  in  length  and  of  such  capa- 
city as  will  ever  supply  all  laterals, 
well  covering  the  lands  intended 
to  cover,  with  a  large  surplus  be- 
sides. This  is  considered  one  of 


8 

the  best  features  in  the  whole 
proposition  and  one  which  expe- 
rienced irrigators  will  readily  ap- 
preciate. 

COMPARATIVE  PRICES  OF  LANDS. 

In  relation  to  the  Pacific  coast, 
we  come  with  equally  fertile  land, 
equally  well  watered,  at  less  than 
one-tenth  the  price.  Our  cousins 
over  there  engaged  in  fruit  culture 
quote  us  quite  often  from  $250  to 
$400  an  acre  for  fruit  lands,  with 
not  a  tree  upon  them;  but  under 
ditches.  Their  fruit  has  to  pass 
our  doors  to  reach  its  market. 
There,  long  experience  has  taught 
them  the  value  of  lands  under 
canals,  while  in  Colorado  it  is  new 


9 

to  many,  and  the  lavish  and  ex- 
travagant waste  of  water  is  ob- 
served by  the  experienced  irri- 
gator  of  California.  The  claim 
can  be  positively  established  that 
the  lands  of  the  MAXWELL  GRANT 
in  New  Mexico,  and  under  canals 
with  perpetual  water  right,  at 
$15.00  per  acre,  will  pay  as  large 
gross  returns  as  those  of  California 
which  cost  $400  an  acre. 

It  matters  but  little  what  line 
of  agriculture  or  horticulture  is 
entered  into.  Everything  raised 
between  New  York  State  and  Geor- 
gia is  raised  here.  If  nothing  but 
alfalfa  is  sown,  what  is  the  result? 
Around  the  granger's  homestead 
until  the  middle  of  November 


10 

(and  he  will  be  mowing  alfalfa 
until  then)  will  appear  a  village 
of  alfalfa  stacks  that  would  cause 
a  Chester  or  Lancaster  County, 
Pennsylvania,  farmer  to  exclaim  : 
"  Its  good  land  around  here  !  "  or 
a  Shenandoah  Valley  farmer  of 
Virginia  to  say:  "they  have  big 
crops  around  here."  The  result 
is,  a  village  of  alfalfa  stacks,  that 
appear  in  the  distance  like  an  old 
time  homestead  of  the  eastern 
states,  with  its  barns,  stables,  gran- 
aries, corn  cribs,  pig  pens,  tool- 
house,  ash  house,  dried-apple 
house,  milk  and  cheese  house,  all 
nestled  togeth er  like  a  small  pueblo. 
What  can  you  do  with  it  ?  Where 
can  you  ship  it?  Ship  it  North, 


11 

South,  East  or  West,  if  you  desire, 
at  a  nice  profit  too,  with  your  five 
tons  yield  to  the  acre;  but  you 
will  not  so  desire,  because  the 
owner  of  a  couple  thousand  head 
of  cattle  will  be  after  you  to  know 
what  you  will  feed  his  herd  for 
for  three  months,  that  he  may 
have  early  beef  steers  for  market, 
and  the  consequence  will  be  your 
profit  will  be  either  in  cash  or  beef 
steers. 

Hundreds  of  such  spots  will  be 
hereafter  the  winter  feeding  ground 
for  the  millions  of  cattle  on  summer 
ranges,  of  which  this  is  a  center. 

HORTICULTURE. 

Quick  growing — Grapes,  for  in- 
stance. Have  we  not  a  market? 


12 

In  Denver,  who  has  not  noticed, 
during  the  months  of  October,  No- 
vember and  December,  the  car 
loads  of  Catawba  and  Concord 
grapes  at  the  commission  houses 
of  Holladay  street  to  be  distributed 
at  every  mining  camp?  And  at 
the  retail  grocers  for  Denver  con- 
sumption? Where  did  they  come 
from?  Many  of  them  from  land 
planted  to  grapes  by  the  writer  of 
this;  from  the  shores  of  Lake 
Erie,  on  the  border  of  Ohio,  Penn- 
sylvania and  New  York  state,  1500 
miles  distant,  and  who,  that  has 
ever  planted  vineyards  in  those  lo- 
calities, does  not  know  the  years 
for  sweetest  grapes,  for  richest  sac- 
arine  matter,  are  the  exception,  a 


13 

rule  that  is  exactly  reversed  on 
the  Ponil,  the  Vermejo  or  Red 
River  valleys.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  all  the  fruits  grown  here. 
Willing  hands,  properly  directed, 
are  all  that  are  needed  to  demon- 
strate these  facts.  There  are  more 
vineyards  now  in  New  Mexico,  ten 
ten  times  the  number  there  were 
on  the  islands  or  shores  of  Lake 
Erie,  within  the  experience  of  the 
writer,  but,  nevertheless,  there  is 
not  one-tenth  the  supply  needed 
for  the  territory  tributary. 

In  comparison  with  California, 
we  are,  many  of  us,  a  thousand 
miles  nearer  the  homes  of  our  boy- 
hood, to  which  six  trunk  lines  of 
railroads  offer,  on  an  average  four 


14 

times  a  year,  very  low  excursion 
rates:  For  instance  the  Chicago 
convention,  for  30  days  we  were 
given  tickets  from  Springer  to 
Chicago  and  return  for  $27.50 ; 
November,  1888,  Trinidad  to  Mis- 
souri river  and  return,  15  days, 
for  $10,  with  corresponding  rates 
frequently  from  the  east.  These 
are  some  of  the  facts  pertaining 
to  the  desirability  of  locating  where 
there  is  neither  extremes  of  heat 
or  cold  ;  where  pulmonary  and 
asthmatic  diseases  never  originate ; 
where  cures  are  common  and  fail- 
ures the  exception. 


